The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015, are automatically nominated for the 2015 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on October 23, 2015, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

KIRKUS REVIEW

Max, an actor, and Olivia, a playwright, meet at drama camp when Max trips over Olivia. While Max jumps through hoops to win Olivia’s heart, Olivia spends most of her time working on her play, Castration Celebration, which is inspired by her cheating father. Tired rather than titillating, Olivia’s play, a semi-retelling of Much Ado About Nothing, is exactly that. During drama camp, Max and Olivia are supported by a cast of artistic roommates, including a pot-smoking guitarist and a lesbian actress. Buried in page after page of increasingly tiresome penis jokes is a painfully realistic romance, full of manipulation and confusion. Max, Olivia and their friends are caring and witty, but therein lies the book’s biggest problem: They are so witty, with the perfect response to all situations, that they become caricatures rather than three-dimensional characters. Their confusion over sex and love is palpable; however, the hints of emotion that come through are often hard to find while the reader wades through pages of Castration Celebration script and anatomy jokes. Nonetheless, the title and content guarantee that this volume will be stolen from library shelves everywhere. (Fiction. YA)

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